Login

Too Young: El Paso Ordinance Curbs Underage Drinking

The 16-year-olds tentatively approach the Santa Fe bridge border
crossing in El Paso. Their goal is to meet other classmates at a
local bar in Ciudad Juárez. Although the drinking age in Mexico is
18, the youngsters know their IDs likely will not be checked once
they cross. Older siblings, cousins, and acquaintances all have
gone to Mexico for years to take advantage of its more lenient
drinking laws.

But this group will not succeed. A police officer approaches and
asks for identification. They reluctantly comply. The officer makes
it clear they are in a curfew zone area in which they are not
allowed without a guardian and they will be fined if they enter the
zone again without guardians. He asks them to leave. Disgruntled,
they turn around, the first of many who will run into El Paso's
recent city ordinance to curb the public health threat of underage
binge drinking in Juárez.

The ordinance, which took effect in March, bars anyone younger
than 17 from being in neighborhoods around the city's two downtown
international bridges after 7 pm, unless they live there. Violators
will be fined up to $500, depending on how many times they have
been arrested in the enforcement zone.

Of course, teen drinking is not limited to El Paso. Texans
Standing Tall, a statewide coalition that works to prevent underage
drinking, reports that the average age for first use of beer is 12
in Texas and that alcohol continues to be the most widely used
substance among students in grades 7 through 12. The coalition also
says Texas leads the nation in alcohol-related deaths among young
people.

For years, San Diego and El Paso have been easy crossing points
for young people wanting to take advantage of the lax drinking law
enforcement in Tijuana and in Juárez. San Diego was the first to
prohibit teenagers younger than 17 from entering Mexico without
guardian supervision. Margaret Bartoletti, director of the Rio
Grande Safe Communities Coalition (RGSCC), says San Diego's
ordinance has been successful and was a model for El Paso's
effort.

Ms. Bartoletti says representatives of the Pacific Institute for
Research and Evaluation (PIRE) came to El Paso six years ago to
study underage drinking there. PIRE picked the area because it was
similar to San Diego-Tijuana.

"PIRE began conducting anonymous surveys on El Paso's border
bridges to determine the intoxication level of teenagers returning
from a night in Juárez," Ms. Bartoletti said. "Representatives
stood at the bridges and offered incentives (such as lottery
tickets) for teenagers to take a breathalyzer test and to answer
questions anonymously. The teenagers were often inebriated and
thought participation was funny."

PIRE determined that about 1,000 kids, some as young as 12, were
crossing into Juárez every weekend.

"Anyone who has been to the international bridges on a Friday or
Saturday night knows that underage drinking is a dangerous problem
here in the El Paso-Juárez community," said U.S. Rep. Silvestre
Reyes (D-El Paso).

A 2004 University of Texas at El Paso study revealed high school
students who drink in Mexico are six times more likely to binge
drink, five times more likely to drink and drive, and three times
more likely to ride with a driver who's been drinking.
Additionally, researchers found the students' rates of binge
drinking and driving drunk exceeded state and national rates. More
than 1,350 El Paso high school students aged 13 to 19 were surveyed
for the study.

Ms. Bartoletti says drunken driving accidents, rape, and
violence are just a few examples of the trouble young people get
into during their trips to Juárez.

Physicians Weigh In

El Paso gastroenterologist John Melvin Tune, MD, knows all about
the problem. As former chair of the board for the El Paso
City-County Health and Environmental District, Dr. Tune knew many
young El Paso residents were crossing into Juárez specifically to
binge drink. The father of five children also heard stories from
his eldest.

"This has been a horrible situation. Kids as young as 12 going
across the border, becoming intoxicated, young women assaulted,
young men attacked, teenagers being arrested in Mexico. The
community had to do something," he said.

After PIRE released its results, RGSCC began an aggressive
effort to pass a city ordinance to prohibit anyone younger than 18
from crossing the border without a parent or guardian. Dr. Tune,
part of the RGSCC board, brought the issue to the attention of the
El Paso Medical County Society.

Physicians quickly supported the ordinance campaign, as did the
El Paso City-County Health and Environmental District. Kathryn
Zerbach, MD, the former medical society president, Dr. Tune, and
several other physicians testified in favor of the ordinance at
city council meetings. So did law enforcement officials, El Paso
residents of all ages, and New Mexico residents whose children also
cross into Juárez to drink.

Ms. Bartoletti says the medical community's support was
essential to the eventual passage of the ordinance.

"It was instrumental that each time we went before city council
we had different people speak. It looked like it wasn't just the
coalition, but the community that wanted this. I can say without
doubt that the ordinance would not have passed had it not been
broadly supported."

Despite strong support from both health and law officials, city
leaders resisted the ordinance because of concerns it would
infringe on citizens' rights. RGSCC was told such an ordinance
could exist only if approved by the Texas Legislature. A bill was
introduced during the 2005 session, but did not pass. Despite
initial defeat, RGSCC continued its campaign, which was bolstered
when ordinance supporter John Cook was elected mayor. He was on the
city council and knew why the ordinance was necessary.

"Mayor Cook supported the coalition's efforts and brought the
topic before city council, knowing that the city attorneys had
previously determined the city had no authority to regulate the
border," Ms. Bartoletti said.

Then, she says, Dr. Tune's wife, Blanche, discovered that Austin
had an ordinance prohibiting minors from being in zones adjacent to
Sixth Street. "That was our saving grace. Ms. Tune testified before
the city council, mentioning the Austin ordinance. Soon after, the
city attorney stated publicly that he would work with RGSCC through
the police department to see if there was a way to address the
issue."

The Texas Medical Association supports legislation that would
prohibit minors younger than 18 from crossing international borders
unless accompanied by a guardian or with written consent from a
guardian or parent.

Erin Prather can be reached at (800) 880-1300, ext. 1385, or
(512) 370-1385; by fax at (512) 370-1629.

SIDEBAR

TMA Committee Battles Youth Drinking

Recognizing the damage that alcohol can do to young people, the
Texas Medical Association Committee on Child and Adolescent Health
prepared the following recommendations on underage drinking to be
presented to the TMA the House of Delegates at TexMed 2006 in
Houston this month:

Support an open container law;

Maintain the drinking age at 21;

Support a zero-tolerance drunk driving law for people
younger than 21;

Encourage physicians and residents to screen for alcohol
and substance abuse during routine history taking, to offer
counseling and/or referral where appropriate, and to counsel
young people on prevention;

Recommend that medical school curricula, residency
training programs, and continuing medical education programs
emphasize all aspects of alcohol and drug abuse so that
physicians will be better prepared to meet the health needs of
a changing society;

Minimize youth exposure to alcohol marketing and
advertising through support of public policies that restrict
alcohol advertising at youth events and in areas where youth
congregate;

Support advertising of pro-health messages to counteract
alcohol ads in print and e-mail;

Support mandatory, responsible beverage service training
laws and favor reducing exemptions from penalties related to
irresponsible alcohol service practices;

Support keg registration policies;

Encourage enforcement of laws related to alcohol and other
substances and support increased resources for
enforcement;

Support restrictions on state agencies accepting alcohol
and tobacco ads;

Support graduated licensing policies that put restrictions
on conditions that contribute to teen drinking and driving
fatalities;

Support legislation to reduce underage drinking; and

Recommend beverages containing alcohol or resembling
alcoholic beverages not be sold to children, whether or not
such beverages are legally considered "alcoholic."